1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for aligning different view of a reference image. The present invention is particularly suitable for maintaining common characteristics in multiple views of a reference frame while each view of the reference frame undergoes editing on a respective computer.
2. Description of Related Art
Latencies or communication delays create problems in real time sharing of images that are being simultaneously changed at different user sites. The problem is particularly noticeable in distributed computing entertainment systems. In such a system where multiple users at different sites may be performing a real time interactive activity on a common image or reference frame, the communication delays can cause jerky or uneven movements unless very high speeds communication networks are used. Thus, traditional methods of solving the problem have been to increase the speeds of the communications lines and the computers on the communication line.
The most common place for interactive game playing is over the Internet. The traditional method of minimizing jerkiness and the slow responses of networked computers, is to use a fast modem and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) which is capable of quickly connecting the end user terminal to the Internet server. Some users, in order to further increase the speed of the communication link, dial directly into the Internet server.
A central computer is frequently needed to coordinate multiple users performing interactive activities on a common reference frame. For example, in games which run over the Internet, a central server usually runs the game. Thus a processor in the central server performs the computations and executes player movements. Even in such an arrangement, the latencies involved in transmitting and receiving the information from the various computers results in player movements that may be slow and jerky.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved method and apparatus for handling changes induced by multiple users sharing a common reference image.